Fall Bootcamp 2016 – Food Preservation and more

This full weekend of workshops, classes and demos focuses on food preservation and processing, with excursions into gardening and other homesteading topics. It will take your urban or rural homesteading to the next level, whether you’re just starting or have been doing it for years. Many sessions are hands-on and all are taught by local experts. You can attend the whole weekend, just one day, or specific sessions, as you wish.

Everything but the pips – making best use of your fruit and veg – Kevin Wilson

11:00 – 11:20 am

Break

11:20 – 1:15 pm

Pressure Canning – Hana-Louise BraunFULL

Mushrooms field trip – Ioni Wais

1:15 – 2:00 pm

Lunch catered by Katie McLean

2:00 – 4:30 pm

Cheesemaking 101 – Samantha ShermanFULL

Location & Cost

This weekend aims to be zero waste and support local producers. Please help us reduce our carbon footprint by carpooling, biking, walking or using the bus to get to and from the sites.

Location:Saturday: Sycamore Commons at the Townsite Anglican Church, 6310 Sycamore St. Please enter through the rear basement doors. Bus route 1 stops right outside, or across from, the church.Sunday: Cranberry Seniors Centre, corner of Manson Ave and Cranberry St. Please enter through the back door off the parking lot: we’ll be using the large and small kitchens, not the main hall. Bus route 1 stops right across from the centre.

Planned Workshops

Creative cooking from the gardenFood preservation does you no good if you don’t eat what you’ve preserved! Learn how to use the abundant produce you may have frozen, canned or dehydrated in the late summer to make a healthy and delicious plant-based meal with Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Plant-Based Chef Emma Levez Larocque. We will discuss how to think creatively about using what’s in your pantry, and make and sample an example dish.Please get in touch with Emma if food sensitivities or allergies are an issue.
Instructor: Emma Levez Larocque
Materials Fee: $5

Bokashi CompostingBokashi means fermented organic matter in Japanese. Bokashi composting uses a selected group of microorganisms to anaerobically ferment organic waste. All the kitchen scraps you can’t put in the backyard composter. Meat, dairy, cooked food, oils. Learn how the simple process works and how to make your own system with almost no energy or cost.
Instructor: Kitty Clemens
Materials Fee: none

Building Soil FertilityDon’t put your tools away yet – next year’s garden starts right now! Fall and winter is the time to work on rebuilding your soil’s fertility and improving conditions to get your plants off to a running start in the spring. Learn about seasonal cycles in the soil food web, strategies for reducing pests and diseases, and fertility building techniques for different kinds of soils in our region.
Instructor: Erin Innes
Materials Fee: none

Mushrooms Part 1: Fundamentals of MycologyThe world of fungi is as mind-boggling as it is inspiring. This workshop is intended as an overview of fungal biology & ecology, covering the basics of mushroom identification and foraging. We will also be looking at a wealth of mushrooms-related resources, particularly field guides and visual keys. Workshop will include a spore print tutorial as a hands-on component.
Instructor: Ionatan Waisgluss
Materials Fee: TBA

Jam and Jelly MakingLearn to make jams and jellies from fruit and herbs. Includes discussion of different setting methods, freezer jams, and basic instruction in boiling water canning, plus jars of jam and jelly to take home and eat!
Instructor: Kevin Wilson
Materials Fee: $5 includes food to take home

Mushrooms Part 2: Utilizing and Cultivating MushroomsThere are as many ways to use mushrooms as there are to grow them. This workshop is intended as an overview of different ways we can engage with mushrooms in our day-to-day lives, covering everything from candied mushrooms to mushroom dyes. We will also be reviewing the varied ways mushrooms are commonly grown, and examining critical parameters for home-scale cultivation.
Instructor: Ionatan Waisgluss
Materials Fee: TBA

Everything but the pips – making best use of your fruit and vegIf you only make one product when you are processing the harvest, think again. It’s usually possible to make two or even more things from one batch of fruits or vegetables. We’ll cover possible products, and how to adjust your prep and processing so that you can make more of the delicious possibilities.
Instructor: Kevin Wilson
Materials Fee: TBA

Pressure CanningPressure canning allows you to safely can low acid foods like vegetables, meat and fish, soup and other pre-cooked meals. Learn the process and procedures to pressure can safely while making vegetarian antipasto.
Instructor: Hana-Louise Braun
Materials Fee: $8 includes food to take home

Walking with the Fungi (field trip)This outing will look at a diversity of fungi in a natural setting, exploring the features and habitats of common mushrooms, and learning how to tell them apart in the field. This walk is not intended as a foraging session, but rather as an introductory mushroom walk focusing on mushroom ecology & morphology. Please dress for the weather. Field guides provided. Location TBA
Instructor: Ionatan Waisgluss
Materials Fee: none

Beginner Cheesemaking FULLLearn the basics of cheese making; in two and a half hours you’ll learn how to make farmers cheese, ricotta and butter. We’ll use both cow and goats milk during the cheese making process and the learn the differences between the two.
Instructor: Samantha Sherman
Materials Fee: $5

Out of Town Visitors

How to reach Powell River:

By Road:

From Vancouver: take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, drive North on Hwy 101 to Earls Cove (about 1 hr 20 mins), take a second ferry to Saltery Bay, then drive North on Hwy 101 to Powell River. Continue as Hwy 101 becomes Marine Ave until you reach the Westview ferry terminal.

From Vancouver Island: take your best route to Comox, then take the ferry from Little River to Powell River Westview terminal.

By Bus

Sunshine Coast Connector runs buses up the Sunshine Coast between Vancouver Bus Station and Powell River. Please check the schedule to see if the bus runs when you need it.

How to reach the site:

On Saturday, take Marine Ave North to the Historic Townsite, turn R up Oak St to Sycamore St, turn R and the site is the second church on the right. On Sunday, head East (uphill) on Duncan St from the ferry to the four way stop at Manson Ave: turn left. Continue on Manson until it forms a T junction with Cranberry St: the Seniors Centre is right there on your left.

Accommodation

The Seniors Centre is only 5 mins drive from Townsite so I recommend the hotels above. There is a motel opposite the Seniors Centre but it’s combined with a bar, pool hall, liquor store and convenience store and is noisy.

Mailing List

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